Latest news with #powerdemand
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The Permian Basin is Fueling America's Electric Future
The growth in US power demand is surging to its highest rate in decades, driven first by the electrification of oil and gas production and then by the build out of data centers. While still below the 5-10% growth seen in China, the world's first 'electrostate," the US power sector is experiencing rapid structural growth. The country is delivering more than a 3.5% annual power demand growth rate for the first time in several decades, potentially positioning the US as the world's next 'electrostate,' despite the strong oil and gas focus of the Trump administration. Nationwide electricity consumption increased by around 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) in the last 10 years, with data centers already accounting for about 50% of the growth. Our updated assessment suggests that in the next decade, growth is likely to be four times faster, with more than 800 TWh of consumption added between 2024 and 2034. We expect the commercial sector – largely data centers – to drive ~60% of the growth. Meanwhile, the electrification of the transport, industrial and residential sectors are expected to deliver 90-150 TWh of growth each. While the market attention is focused predominantly on these data centers, we note that the electrification of the Permian Basin has been one of the most significant contributors to the nationwide demand growth in recent years. In fact, there is no other load zone in the country that has experienced the roughly 4 GW increase in average demand that Texas has seen since 2021. This translates into 30-35 TWh of added consumption and accounts for the entire industrial demand growth in Texas in the last four years. Using a combination of industry surveys, public data and Rystad Energy's proprietary data tools and models, we have been able to deconstruct the current 7.5 GW of Permian Texas grid power demand into individual contributors. Roughly 2.5 GW comes from residential and commercial sectors in West Texas and ~30% of that came on the back of accelerated Permian oil and gas development since 2017-2018. Upstream pad operations (mainly electric submersible pumps and other pad equipment) and gas compression contribute with ~2 and ~1 GW to the demand, respectively. The remaining 2 GW comes from direct electricity use at gas power plants, other oil and gas midstream facilities and liquids transmission. Some of these segments are positioned for significant growth in 2025-2035 regardless of oilfield activity outlook amid ongoing electrification of the basin. Hence, the Permian Basin will inevitably remain a critical contributor to nationwide demand growth. By Rystad Energy More Top Reads From this article on
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Climate
- Bloomberg
How Big Batteries Could Prevent Summer Power Blackouts
In any other year, May 14 may well have been an energy disaster in Texas. Temperatures climbed to seasonal levels not seen in over a century: 92F in Dallas, 95F in Houston and 104F in Laredo. Air conditioners hummed en masse and power demand surged. Meanwhile, scores of natural-gas powered generators were offline, getting tuned up for summer.
Zawya
12-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt agrees to buy up to 160 LNG cargoes through 2026, sources say
Egypt has reached agreements with several energy firms and trading houses to buy between 150-160 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) costing over $8 billion to cover power demand through end-2026, industry sources aware of the matter told Reuters. (Reporting by Marwa Rashad in London; Additional reporting by Mohamed Ezz in Cairo; Editing by Nina Chestney)
Bloomberg
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Bloomberg
Searing Heat in California and the US West Threatens to Break Temperature Records
A short-lived heat wave will send temperatures soaring across California and the US West through the weekend, elevating power demand and raising the risk of health impacts. At least 26 daily records may be broken or tied across the West on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures forecast to reach 102F (39C) in California's capital of Sacramento and 105F in Fresno to the south, the National Weather Service said.
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How AI And A Stiff Breeze Vitalize Our Aging Grid
A worker installing a LineVision DLR sensor on a sub-transmission tower After decades of flat to declining electrical utility demand, customers are suddenly clamoring for more power. AI data centers have driven that demand, but home electrification and EVs have also boosted the electric load on our aging grid. Utilities' present infrastructures are based on 10-year-old plans that didn't foresee this surge in demand. Building new power plants or stringing miles of new transmission lines doesn't happen overnight, so utilities are scrambling to do more with less. Boston start-up LineVision and several European competitors are leveraging a new technology called dynamic line ratings to help utilities do more with less. DLR systems allow grid operators to increase the current flowing through high-voltage transmission lines like the ones pictured below. A transmission line in Waikanae, north of Wellington, New Zealand. The difference between current and voltage can be visualized by a conveyor belt carrying boxes of a uniform size. The fixed box size represents voltage, while the speed of the conveyor belt represents current. To deliver more boxes in the same amount of time, you increase the speed of the conveyor belt. The same is true for electrical generation. Generation facilities respond to increased demand by producing more power and sending it through transmission wires at a constant voltage, but higher current. If electrical grids were conveyor belts, it would be easy to just boost the amperage (another word for current, which is measured in amperes) flowing through the lines. However, as current increases, transmission lines heat up and sag due to thermal expansion. Sagging places a strain on transmission towers and, if severe enough, might cause lines to brush against vegetation, sparking fires (read my article PG&E: The First S&P 500 Climate Change Casualty). The sun's heat causes lines to sag more on sunny days, while increased airflow on windy days cools the lines, which sag less. Industry conservatism and the threat of wildfire-related lawsuits prompt grid operators to keep transmission currents low to prevent excessive line sagging. This conservatism is warranted on hot, still summer days when everyone is cranking up their air conditioning, but such caution often restricts the amount of electricity available to customers. DLR systems signal grid operators to throttle back on the current on sunny, still days and crank up the current when demand spikes on cool, cloudy, windy days. A solar powered DLR device from LineVision installed on a transmission tower Such slight adjustments might seem trivial, but DLR systems enable amazing capacity increases. A brisk wind allows 50-100%+ amperage increases over static assumptions on a case-by-case basis, leading to average grid-wide capacity increases of around 40%. Replicating such increases over the entire 700,000-mile grid network could result in enormous economic benefits. Increased 'ampacity' (i.e., current capacity) reduces the demand for new generation facilities and transmission lines, clears transmission bottlenecks, increases the grid's capacity for cheap renewable energy, and helps grids re-energize faster after equipment failures. The pioneer of DLR systems is Ampacimon, a Belgian company spun out of a university in 2010. Its devices are installed directly onto transmission lines, deriving power from the lines' electromagnetic field. The devices sense determinants such as wind vibrations and the lines' temperature, then use theoretical models to infer from measured inputs and local weather reports how much sagging is likely to occur, which they report to the grid operator in real-time via cellular links. Heimdall Power, a Norwegian company founded in 2016, applied a twist to Ampacimon's model. Heimdall's devices are installed onto transmission lines via drone and operate on harvested electric power. However, rather than using theoretical models, Heimdall's devices are equipped with MEMS chips and accelerometers, the sensors in your phone which measure movement and relative position to the earth. The devices infer from this location data the sag across the span to which they are attached. You can learn more about Heimdall's solution here. Ampacimon's devices originally required that power to the lines be shut off for installation, but now both they and Heimdall's devices can be installed on live transmission wires, making installation less disruptive. LineVision is the only DLR company to implement direct sag and temperature measurements using LIDAR, electromagnetic field sensors, and AI-powered visual imaging. LineVision sensors attach to towers rather than the lines themselves and are powered by solar cells and batteries, enabling the system to estimate line capacity when a grid goes down and is attempting to restart. Sensor installation is quicker and easier on towers than on lines, cutting capital costs. LineVision's software uses AI to monitor line conditions and integrates local weather forecasts to predict future line conditions, then conveys capacity recommendations to grid operators. National Grid, a U.K.-based utility with operations in the U.K. and New York State, estimated that LineVision's DLR has generated over £1 billion in transmission grid congestion reductions and upgrade deferrals. We are putting an enormous burden on our aging grid, which is comprised in many regions of lines older than 30 years on average. I believe that power generation and distribution in the post-Climate world will require a complete rethink of the Industrial Revolution paradigm by which we built our present grid, but even a modern, distributed grid will need a strong, efficient transmission network. Dynamic line ratings, powered by modern sensors, AI and an occasional stiff breeze, are a critical advantage. Intelligent investors take note.
